ELON — Drew Spradlin scored 14 points and Elon held off UNCG 70-65 on Wednesday night in Alumni Gym.
The Phoenix (7-19, 5-10 Southern Conference) led 59-47 with 3:51 remaining before the Spartans (5-21, 4-11) got three 3-pointers by Mikko Koivisto and one by Kendall Toney to trim the lead to 64-59 with 45 seconds left.
Chris Long and Terrance Birdette each made two free throws for Elon, sandwiched around a layup by the Spartans' Kyle Randall, for a seven-point lead, 68-61 with 31 seconds left.
Birdette scored 12 points for Elon, Adam Constantine added 11 and Long had 10.
The Spartans' Ben Stywall had 22 points and 11 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season, but his seven first-half turnovers helped Elon lead 35-23 at halftime.
Stywall also grabbed his 900th career rebound in the game, making him just the third Spartan to achieve the mark. He now has 910 in his career.
Koivisto added 19 points, including six 3-pointers, for UNCG before fouling out in the final seconds.
UNCG led wire-to-wire in the first meeting between the two teams three weeks earlier.
The Spartans found themselves in an early hole, however, on Wednesday night, trailing by as many 12 in the opening half.
UNCG (5-21) — Stywall 9-15 4-7 22, Brown 3-4 0-0 6, Koivisto 6-15 1-2 19, Randall 1-9 1-2 3, Toney 4-7 0-0 11, VanDussen 0-2 0-0 0, Bone 0-1 0-0 0, Evans 0-3 2-2 2, Cole 1-3 0-0 2, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 8-13 65.
ELON (7-19) — Constantine 3-5 5-6 11, Douglas 2-6 0-0 6, Spradlin 3-10 5-8 14, Carter 3-8 0-0 6, Long 3-8 3-4 10, Bonney 1-2 0-0 2, Birdette 3-6 5-6 12, Ervin 2-2 0-0 4, Ogolo 0-0 0-0 0, Grable 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 22-50 19-26 70.
UNCG 23 42 — 65
Elon 35 35 — 70
Percentages—UNCG (FG .407, FT .615), Elon (FG .440, FT .731).
3-point goals—UNCG 9-20 (Koivisto 6-15, Toney 3-3, VanDussen 0-1, Randall 0-1), Elon 7-19 (Spradlin 3-7, Douglas 2-4, Long 1-4, Birdette 1-4).
Fouled out—Koivisto.
Rebounds—UNCG 34 (Stywall 11), Elon 33 (Douglas 8).
Assists—UNCG 10 (Randall 5), Elon 12 (Long 5).
Total fouls—UNCG 22, Elon 13.
Blocked shots—UNCG 3 (Toney, Brown, Stywall), Elon 4 (Constantine 2).
Turnovers—UNCG 12 (Stywall 7), Elon 11 (Constantine 3, Long 2).
Steals—UNCG 5 (Koivisto 2, Stywall 2), Elon 7 (Constantine 2, Spradlin 2).
A—865.
Officials—William Cheek, Antinio Petty, Tim Clougherty.
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